There's a quotation posted on the wall near Orem High School's Room D-9, where voters from GOP Precinct OR16 met Tuesday night: "We are not endeavoring to get ahead of others, but to surpass ourselves."

It was a particularly fine sentiment for the night's activities -- the Utah County GOP caucus, a purely grass-roots expression of political will that, like all democratic exercises, has a better-than-even chance of being more than the sum of its parts.

And yet there's a part of the event that doesn't fit with the quotation: Caucus meetings also kick off the year's election cycle, in which the aim of candidates is to get ahead and win.

Members of both the Republican and Democratic parties assembled Tuesday night in school rooms and town halls across the county to elect officers and choose delegates to the county and state party conventions.

Those delegates will vote on candidates seeking the party's nominations for elected office, and in many cases effectively decide who will take office.

Turnout was strong, said county GOP Chairwoman Marian Monnahan.

"The classrooms I looked into at Timpview High were pretty well attended," she said. "I think, for a year that we don't have a gubernatorial race and there's just one senator running ... the attendance was more than I expected it to be."

The most crowded room at Orem High School was the one occupied by Republican Precinct 8 voters, who packed in until it was standing-room only.

"For an off-presidential campaign, we had excellent turnout," said Precinct 8 Chairman Larry Lawrence. "This section of Orem is very conservative and very politically active."

Lawrence and Monnahan both said there appears to be strong interest in the Utah County races this year, particularly those for two county commission seats and the county attorney post.

"We've got some heated discussion about some of the county offices," Lawrence said. "The county attorney seems to be the hot button."

Down the hall in GOP Precinct 31's room, Orem resident Ron Gardner was attending his first caucus meeting and was nominated but not chosen to be a delegate.

He said he'd been interested in being more politically involved for some time.

"My wife wondered why was I was going -- 'Where are you goingfi Caucus whatfi' " Gardner said. "I told her why. It affects my family and my well-being, so I want to be involved."

GOP delegates will vote on candidates at the Utah County convention April 29 at Payson High School and at the state convention May 13 at the South Towne Expo Center.

Races in which no candidate gets at least 60 percent support from within the party will go to a primary election June 27.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.